Method and apparatus for manufacturing flat, tubular wrappers

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for folding an elongated web of foldable sheet material into a flat tubular wrapper for receiving packages of predetermined dimensions. Opposed longitudinal side areas of the web of sheet material are folded into overlapping relation around a pair of opposed edges of a folding plate while a feeding structure continuously feeds the web along the folding plate. Adhesive is applied by a suitable structure, in advance of the folding plate, to elongated narrow zones of the web. One of these zones becomes located between overlapping portions of the folded side areas to fasten them to each other. The other two zones are located respectively beside the fold lines one beside one fold line at the longitudinal central area of the web between the fold lines and the other beside the other fold line outside of the longitudinal central area of the web. Stiffening strips are delivered to the inner surface of the web prior to folding thereof with these strips being respectively located beside the fold lines at the longitudinal central area between the fold lines. Thus, one of the strips adheres to the adhesive at the zone beside one fold line at the central area of the web while the other strip adheres to a folded side area when the latter is folded around a fold line to become located against the other stiffening strip. The thus folded sheet material together with the stiffening strips adhering thereto is cut into suitable lengths and score lines are provided at predetermined distances from the ends of each length.

United States Patent Hudson [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURINGFLAT, TUBULAR 21 Appl. No.: 146,218

[52] U.S. Cl. ..93/l R, 93/20, 93/35 SB, 93/48, 93/52, 93/94 PS, 229/40,229/87 R [51] Int. 831d [58] field of Search ..93/45, 48, 49, 52, 36.9,36.6, 93/20, 94 PS, 35 SB, 35 PT, 1 R; 229/40, 87 R [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1964 Goodrich ..93/48 8/1968 Lepisto..93/36.6X

Primary Examiner-Hemard Stickney AnomeyAlex Friedman et al.

[ 51 July 18, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for folding anelongated web of foldable sheet material into a flat tubular wrapper forreceiving packages of predetermined dimensions. Opposed longitudinalside areas of the web of sheet material are folded into overlappingrelation around a pair of opposed edges of a folding plate while afeeding structure continuously feeds the web along the folding plate.Adhesive is applied by a suitable structure, in advance of the foldingplate, to elongated narrow zones of the web. One of these zones becomeslocated between overlapping portions of the folded side areas to fastenthem to each other. The other two zones are located respectively besidethe fold lines one beside one fold line at the longitudinal central areaof the web between the fold lines and the other beside the other foldline outside of the longitudinal central area of the web. Stifi'eningstrips are delivered to the inner surface of the web prior to foldingthereof with these strips being respectively located beside the foldlines at the longitudinal central area between the fold lines. Thus, oneof the strips adheres to the adhesive at the zone beside one fold lineat the central area of the web while the other strip adheres to a foldedside area when the latter is folded around a fold line to become locatedagainst the other stiffening strip. The thus folded sheet materialtogether with the stiffening strips adhering thereto is cut intosuitable lengths and score lines are provided at predetermined distancesfrom the ends of each length.

15 Clains, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JUL] 8 I972 SHEET 2 [IF 4INVENTOR 54,64 4 flupsa/v ATTO RN EYS METHOD AND APPARATUS FORMANUFACTURING FLAT, TUBULAR WRAPPERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to the manufacture of flat tubular wrapperswhich are designed to receive packages of predetermined dimensions. Sucha flat tubular wrapper will have opposed open ends. It is opened so asto receive a package of predetermined dimensions which can he slippedinto the wrapper with the latter having free ends extending beyond thepackage and adapted to be folded against opposed ends of the package forcompleting the wrapping thereof.

In order to facilitate opening of the flat tubular wrapper so that itwill assume a condition for receiving the package the wrapper isprovided with a pair of stiffening strips which become located along thesides of the package. The width of these strips will correspond to thethickness of the package so that when the strips are placed in acondition extending perpendicularly to portions of the wrapper extendingbetween the strips the wrapper is in a condition for receiving thepackage.

Thus, in order to manufacture a wrapper of this type it is notsufficient simply to fold the wrapper into a condition where opposedside edges thereof overlap each other. In addition it becomes necessaryto situate within the folded wrapper the stiffening strips which willbecome located along the sides of the package. Considerable difficultieshave been encountered in this latter connection because of the necessityof connecting the stiffening strips respectively to the opposed flatwalls of the flat tubular wrapper. It is only in this way that thewrapper will assume its proper condition when the strips are tilted.Thus, the flat tubular wrapper has a pair of walls the inner surfaces ofwhich are directed toward each other, with one of these walls beingformed by a longitudinal central portion of the web from which thewrapper is formed and the other of the walls being formed by theinterconnecting overlapping side areas of the web. The necessity ofadhering the stiffening strips one to one of these walls and the otherto the other of these walls has created great difficulties in themanufacture of wrappers of this type.

In addition, it is required to cut the folded wrapper material intopredetermined lengths which are required to be varied in accordance withthe length of the packages, and this requirement also has createddifficulties because with known methods and apparatus it is not possibleeasily to manufacture wrappers of different lengths.

Also, it is highly desirable to provide the wrappers with transversescoring lines adjacent the ends thereof to facilitate folding of theends of the wrapper against the ends of the package. Providing suitablescore lines has also created difficulties particularly with respect todifferent lengths of wrapper because of the necessity of locating thescore lines at different distances from each other in accordance withthe lengths which may vary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a method and apparatus for forming in ahighly efficient and continuous manner flat tubular wrappers of theabove type having stiffening strips properly connected to the opposedwalls of the flat tubular wrapper.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus which make it possible to obtain wrappers of differentpredetermined lengths.

In addition it is an object of the present invention to provide a methodand apparatus capable of providing the length of wrapper with scorelines properly situated.

In addition it is an object of the invention to provide a method andapparatus for continuously manufacturing flat tubular wrappers of theabove type with a reliably operating apparatus capable of achieving ahigh output so that the costs involved are relatively low.

According to the invention a web of foldable sheet material has opposedlongitudinally extending side areas thereof folded around predeterminedlongitudinally extending fold lines determined by the opposed side edgesof a stationary folding plate. Folding rods fold the side edges of theweb around opposed edges of the folding plate while a feeding meansfeeds the folded web with respect to the stationary folding plate. Alongone narrow zone of the web which becomes situated between overlappingportions of the folded side areas adhesive is applied for fasteningthese overlapping portions to each other. Adhesive is also applied toelongated narrow zones at the inner surface of the web respectivelysituated beside the fold lines with one of the latter zones locatedbetween the fold lines and beside one of the fold lines while the otherof the latter zones is located outside of the area between the foldlines beside the other of the fold lines. A delivering means delivers apair of stiffening strips to the inner surface of the web at thelongitudinal central area thereof respectively beside the fold lines sothat one of these stiffening strips will engage the narrow zone ofadhesive located between the fold lines adjacent one of the latter. Theother zone of adhesive which is situated beside the other fold lineoutside of the central area therebetween will only engage the otherstrip after the side areas of the web are folded, so that in this waythe pair of strips will adhere to the opposed walls of the flat tubularwrapper. A cutting means is provided for cutting the folded web togetherwith the stiffening strips into predetermined lengths and a scoringmeans is provided for scoring the cut lengths at predetermined distancesfrom the opposed ends thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which:

FIG. I is a schematic side elevation of an apparatus of the inventionfor practicing the method of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation taken along line 3-3 ofFIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and schematically representing thecutting means and scoring means as well as a group of feeding means;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 44 of FIG. 2in the direction of the arrows and illustrating details of the foldingmeans at a scale which is enlarged as compared to FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of the scoring means;

FIG. 6 is a schematic partly sectional illustration of the scoring meansadjusted for providing one predetermined distance between score lines;

FIG. 7 is a schematic partly sectional illustration of the scoring meansadjusted to provide a different distance between the score lines;

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective illustration of the manner in which aweb is folded by the folding means of the invention as well as themanner in which stiffening strips are delivered by delivering means ofthe invention;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective illustration schematicallyrepresenting in greater detail the manner in which the web andstiffening strips move with respect to a folding plate;

FIG. 10 is a schematic transverse section taken along line 10-10 of FIG.9 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating the manner in whichthe web is folded around the folding plate and the location of thestiffening strips with respect to the web and the folding plate;

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a completed wrapper;

FIG. 12 shows the wrapper of FIG. 11 in a condition for receiving apackage; and

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates how an end of the wrapper is foldedagainst the package.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Before proceeding to a descriptionof the method and apparatus of the invention, reference is made to FIGS.11-13 which illustrate the product formed by the method and apparatus ofthe invention as well as the use which is made of this product. Thus,referring to FIG. 11, it will be seen that with the method and apparatusof the present invention there is achieved a flat, tubular wrapper 20made from a web of foldable sheet material such as a suitable paperwhich may, if desired, have a decorative exterior surface so as to serveas a gift wrapper. The flat tubular wrapper 20 which is illustrated inFIG. 11 has an upper wall, as viewed in FIG. 11, formed by a pair ofoverlapping side areas 22a and 22b of the web of sheet material, theseoverlapping side areas adhering to each other at their overlappingportions in a manner described below. The side areas 22a and 22b arefolded around a pair of longitudinal fold lines 240 and 24b betweenwhich a central longitudinal area 26 of the web is located. Thus, thiscentral longitudinal area 26 forms the lower wall of the flat, tubularwrapper 20 which is illustrated in FIG. 1 1.

Between these walls of the flat tubular wrapper 20 are a pair ofstiffening strips 28a and 28b. These stiffening strips extend along theentire length of the wrapper 20 and are made of a somewhat heavier paperor light cardboard, so that the wrapper will be stiffened along thesides of the package to be surrounded thereby. In the particular exampleshown in FIG. 11 the left stiffening strip 28a adheres to the innersurface of the side area 22a, while the right stiffening strip 28badheres to the bottom wall 26. In this way, when it is desired to usethe wrapper, the stiffening strips 28a and 28b can be tilted aroundtheir left edges, as viewed in FIG. 11, and in this way the wrapper 20can be opened to the position indicated in FIG. 12. It is apparent thatin order to achieve this result it is necessary to adhere one of thestiffening strips to one of the flat walls and the other of thestiffening strips to the other of the flat walls of the flat tubularwrapper 20. Thus, with this construction the folding edge 24a remainsstationary at the left edge of the bottom wall 26, while the leftstiffening strip 28a is tilted to a vertical position, while the rightfolding edge 24b moves with the right edge of the stiffening strip 28baround the left edge of the latter in order to provide the wrapper 20with the configuration illustrated in FIG. 12.

Furthermore, the wrapper 20 is provided with a pair of transverse scorelines 30a and 30b situated at a given distance from the opposed ends ofthe wrapper 20, so that beyond these score lines the ends of the wrappercan be conveniently folded against the ends of the package.

Thus, once the wrapper is placed in the position of FIG. 12 a packagecan be slipped into the wrapper, with the ends of the package coincidingwith the score lines 30a and 30b. Then the ends of the wrapper, wherethey project beyond the package can be folded against the ends of thepackage, as shown for the end 32 of the wrapper in FIG. 13. This foldedend can be held in place in any suitable way as by application oftransparent cellophane tape, for example.

The present invention deals with a method and apparatus for making thetubular wrapper 20 as shown in FIG. 11, and in particular the presentinvention solves the problem of combining with the wrapper thestiffening strips 28a and 28b in such a way that they respectivelyadhere to the opposed walls of the wrapper so that the wrapper can beopened to the condition of FIG. 12.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is schematically illustrated therein anapparatus 34 according to the present invention for carrying out themethod of the present invention. This apparatus includes any suitableframework 36 provided at its left end, as viewed in FIG. 1, with asuitable support 38 for a supply roll 40 from which the web 42 offoldable sheet material is derived. The article 20 of FIG. 11 is formedfrom the web of sheet material 42. The web 42 is guided from the supplyroll 40 around a lower guide roller 44 which is supported in anysuitable way for free rotation. From the guide roller 44 the web movesupwardly to an upper guide roller 46 mounted for free rotation on anysuitable brackets or the like carried by the frame 36 of the apparatus34. The web 42 is deflected by the guide roller 46 into engagement withan adhesive-applying means 48, described in greater detail below, andfrom the adhesive-applying means 48 the web 42 extends around an upperguide roller 50, also supported in any suitable way for free rotarymovement by the framework 36. From the guide roller 50 the web travelsdown to the underside of a stationary folding plate 52 of a foldingmeans 54 of the apparatus 34. The web 42 is continuously fed along thelower surface of the folding plate 52, to the right, as viewed in FIG.1, by a feeding means 56 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and described in greaterdetail below. Thus, this feeding means which continuously operatesserves to continuously feed the web from the supply roll 40 around theseveral guide rollers to receive adhesive from the adhesive-applyingmeans 48 and to be folded by the folding means 54 while beingcontinuously advanced along the folding plate 52 by the feeding means56. This feeding means 56 includes a pair of upper feed rollers 58 andlower feed rollers 60 coacting therewith, in the manner shown for thepair of rollers 58 and 60 of FIG. 3. The rollers 58 are fixed to arotary shaft 62 supported for rotation in any suitable bearings carriedby walls of the framework 36, and the lower rollers 60 are fixed to arotary shaft 64 also supported for rotary movement in suitable bearingscarried by the walls of the framework 36. These shafts 62 and 64 aredriven in a manner described below so as to continuously feed the foldedsheet material to the right, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, the stationary folding plate 52 of thefolding means 54 is situated over and spaced slightly above a pair ofhorizontal plates 66a and 66b of the framework 36. The folding plate 52extends across the space between these plates 66a and 66b. A pair ofscrews 68a and 68b serve to fix to the plates 66a and 66b, respectively,a pair of folding rods 70a and 70b. These rods extend across the opposedside edges 72a and 72b of the plate 52. These side edges 72a and 72bdetermine the fold lines 24a and 24b. The manner in which the foldingrods 70a and 70b act on the web 42 is shown most clearly in FIG. 8.Thus, while the web 42 is continuously fed by the feeding means 56, therod 70b folds the side area 22b of the web around the edge 72b of thefolding plate 52, forming the fold line 24b, and the rod 70a folds theside edge 22a around the edge 72a to form the folding edge 24a, theseside areas 220 and 22b overlapping each other to form the closed flattubular wrapper 20. Thus, the rods 70a and 70b extends across the sideedges 72a and 72b of the folding plate 52 over the upper surface thereofso as to fold the side areas 22a and 22b in the manner illustrated inFIG. 8.

The folding plate 52 is fixed, as by welding, to an L-shaped bracket 74(FIG. I) mounted on one end of an elongated bolt 76 which is fixed toand extends from an elongated supporting body 78 formed with a T-slotwhich receives a lower T-head of a stationary support member 80. A setscrew 82 is threaded through the support member and presses against thebody 78 for fixing the folding plate 52 in position. The support 80 isfixed to the lower end of a post 84 which is fixed in a sleeve 86, as byhaving a press fit therein, or the sleeve 86 may be split and may beclamped onto the post 84. This sleeve 86 is carried by a pair of supportarms 88 which at their outer ends are carried by the framework 36. Thus,it is only necessary to slip the body 78, which carries the plate 52,onto the T-head of the support member 80 and then the screw 82 istightened so as to fix the plate 52 in position.

The adhesive-applying means 48 includes three rollers 90, one of whichis shown in FIG. 1. These rollers dip into a bath 92 containing asuitable adhesive. During the feeding of the web 42, the rollers rotateso as to apply the adhesive to the inner surface of the web. The rollers90 are relatively narrow so as to apply the adhesive along three narrowzones illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. These zones include the right narrowzone 94 situated at the central area 26 just inside of the right foldline 24b. The second zone is the zone 96 situated beside the fold line24a but just outside of the central area 26 between the fold lines 24aand 24b. The third zone is the zone 98 situated adjacent the left edgeof the web, as viewed in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The stiffening strips 28a and 28b are delivered to the web 42 by adelivering means 100 which includes a pair of supply rolls 102 fromwhich the strips 28a and 28b are drawn. One of these rolls is visible atthe upper left of FIG. 1. The supply rolls 102 are supported for freerotary movement on a shaft 104 carried by the framework 36. From thesupply rolls the strips 28a and 28b are guided around a pair of guiderollers 106 and 108 supported for free rotary movement in the mannershown in FIG. 1. Thus, these strips 28a and 28b are delivered by thedelivering means 100 to the inner surface of the web 42 at the placewhere the latter moves downwardly beyond the guide roller 50. The leftend of the plate 52 is curved upwardly, and both of the strips 28a and28b are fed together with the web along the lower surface of the plate52 at the region of its left upwardly curved end, as viewed in FIGS. 1and 9. Thus, the delivering means 100 delivers the strips 28a and 28b tothe lower surface of the plate 52 just inside of the edges 72a and 72bthereof, so that in this way the stiffening strips become situated atthe central area 26 beside the pair of fold lines 240 and 24b. Inadvance of the folding rod 70a, the plate 52 is formed with a notch oropening 110 through which the stiffening strip 28a passes to the uppersurface of the plate 52. The stiffening strips are fed by the rollers 58and 60 of the feeding means 56 together with the folded web of sheetmaterial 42, so that the strips move together with the web 42, withouthaving any movement relative thereto.

As a result of this arrangement, with the method and apparatus of theinvention, as is shown most clearly in FIG. 10, the stiffening strip 28bis applied directly to the narrow zone of adhesive 94 at the area 26just inside of the fold line 24b. The folded side area 22a is foldedaround the edge 72a of the plate 52 so as to apply the narrow zone ofadhesive 96 to the strip 280 at the upper side of the plate 52, thestrip 28b and zone 94 remaining at the lower side of the plate 52. Atthe same time the zone of adhesive 98 is applied between the folded sideareas 22a and 22b where they overlap each other.

In order to contribute to the joining of the folded areas 220 and 22b toeach other with the zone of adhesive 98 as well as to contribute to theadhering of the stiffening strips to the other narrow zones of adhesive,a pair of pressure rollers 112 are supported for free rotary movement bythe ends of a pair of levers 114 which carry weights 116 and which areswingable on pivots 118 carried by stationary pins 120 fixed to andextending upwardly from the stationary plates 66a and 66b. Thus as aresult of the action of the weights 116 the pressure rollers 112 arepressed against the sheet material to adhere the overlapping portions ofside areas 220 and 22b to each other as well as to adhere the stiffeningstrips 28a and 28b to the narrow zones of adhesive 96 and 94,respectively.

Referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the plates 66a and 66b formpart of a common plate 122 situated just ahead of the feeding means 56,this plate 122 being formed with suitable openings through which thelower rollers 60 engage the upper rollers 58. This feeding means 56serves to feed the folded web 46 and the stiffening strips 28a and 28bto a rotary cutting means 124 in the form of an elongated plate 126fixed to a rotary shaft 128 driven in a manner described in greaterdetail below. This shaft 128 is also supported in suitable bearings ofthe framework 36. The plate 126 carries an elongated cutting blade 130long enough to extend across and beyond the entire folded web. The plate122 fixedly carries a plate 132 situated beneath the rotary cuttingblade 130 and acting as an anvil surface against which the cutting blade130 operates while cutting through the web of sheet material and thestiffening strips adhering thereto. This anvil plate 132 of the cuttingmeans 124 is supported by the end of the plate 122 as well as by theside walls of the framework 36.

Just beyond the rotary cutting means 124 is a second feeding means 134taking the form of a plurality of endless belts 136 and 138. The upperbelts 136 are guided around four front and four rear rollers 140 fixedlymounted on rotary shafts 143 driven in a manner described below. Thelower belts 138 are guided around four front and four rear pulleys 142,these pulleys also being mounted on a pair of shafts 144 driven in amanner described below. A transverse tensioning bar 146 extends betweenand is carried by the side walls of the framework 36, this bar 146tensioning the upper runs of the belts 138 and the lower runs of thebelts 136 upwardly in the manner shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the cut lengthsof sheet materi al are engaged and fed by the second feeding means 134to the right beyond the cutting means 124.

The second feeding means 134 feeds the cut length of sheet material to ascoring means 146. This scoring means includes a pair of scoring members148 carried by end plates 150 which are fixed by suitable screws 152 ona rotary shaft 154, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 5-7. The shaft154 is supported in suitable bearings for rotary movement and is drivenin a manner described below. By loosening the screws 152 it becomespossible to adjust the angular position of the scoring blades 148 withrespect to each other, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. These scoringblades 148 press the sheet material against a roller 156 fixedly carriedby a rotary shaft 158 driven in a manner described below. The sheetmaterial is fed by the feeding means 134 along a plate 160 formed withan opening into which the roller 156 extends to coact with the scoringblades 148. Thus, as the sheet is fed by the feeding means 134 first onescoring blade and then the other scoring blade will engage the sheetmaterial and provide the score lines 30b and 30a indicated in FIG. 11.The speed of rotation of the cutting means 124 is adjusted in a mannerdescribed below so as to provide lengths of flat tubular wrapper of agiven size. For relatively long lengths the blades 148 will be adjustedas indicated in FIG. 7 while for relatively short lengths the blades maybe adjusted as indicated in FIG. 6. Thus through loosening the screws152 and adjusting the angular positions of the scoring blades 148 it ispossible to situate the scoring lines 30a and 30b at required distancesfrom the opposed ends of the length of cut sheet material which formsthe flat tubular wrapper 20.

Beyond the scoring means 146 there is a third and final feeding means162 formed by a pair of upper rollers 164 fixedly mounted on a shaft 166driven in a manner described below. These upper rollers 164 coact with apair of lower rollers 168 fixed on a shaft 170 also driven in a mannerdescribed below. Thus, the scored sheet material is engaged and fed bythe rollers 164 and 168, which coact with each other through an openingof the plate 160, to the right beyond the scoring means, and thefinished articles are collected on any suitable support to be furtherhandled for shipment, for example.

As is indicated in FIG. 1, the entire apparatus is driven from a singledrive means 172 which includes an electric motor 174 mounted on anysuitable base and supplied with power from any suitable source. Themotor 174 drives a pair of sprockets which in turn drive the chains 176and 178. The chain 176 drives a sprocket 180 which is coaxially fixed toa change gear 182 which is also coaxially fixed to a gear 184, thesecomponents 180, 182 and 184 being keyed to the shaft 128 so as to rotatethe latter and thus drive the rotary cutting means 124. Whenever it isdesired to change the speed of the rotary cutting means, the assembly ofthe gears 180, 182, and 184 is removed and replaced by gears of adifferent diameter, so that in this way the speed of rotation of thecutting means can be selected to provide a desired length for eacharticle 20.

The gear 182 drives an idler 186 which in turn drives a second idler188. The idler 186 is mounted on a shiftable bracket acted upon by anunillustrated spring so as to urge the idler 186 into engagement withthe gears 182 and 188. Thus when the gear which drives the rotary cutteris changed, the idler 186 will properly mesh therewith. The idler 188drives a gear 190 fixed to the shaft 64, and this gear 190 drives a gear192 which is fixed to the shaft 62. Thus the drive is transmitted fromthe rotary cutting means to the feeding means 56.

The gear 184 drives an idler 194 which in turn drives a gear 196 fixedto the shaft 143 which carries the front pulleys 140 on which the upperbelts 136 of the second feed means 134 are mounted. This gear 196 drivesa gear 198 fixed to the shaft 144, so that the lower pulleys 142 arealso driven, and in this way the belts 136 and 138 of the second feedmeans 134 are driven. The shafts 143 and 144 which carry the rearpulleys simply rotate freely.

The chain 178 drives a sprocket 200 coaxially fixed to a gear 202 whichis in turn keyed onto the shaft 154, so that in this way the drive means172 also serves to drive the scoring means 146. The gear 202 drives agear train 204 and 206 so as to transmit the drive to a gear 208 fixedto the shaft 170, and in this way the drive is transmitted from thescoring means to the third feed means 162. The gear 208 finally mesheswith a gear 210 fixed to the shaft 166 which carries the upper rollers164 of the third feed means, so that in this way the drive to the thirdfeed means is taken from the scoring means.

It is thus apparent that with the structure of the invention sheetmaterial is constantly taken from the supply roll 40 while stiffeningstrips are constantly delivered from the supply rolls 102. Adhesive isconstantly taken from the bath 92, and with these materials the flattubular wrapper 20 is formed by the folding means 54 while the sheetmaterial and stiffening strips are continuously fed by the feed means56. The single drive means 172 serves to drive the rotary cutting means124 which cuts the sheet material into desired lengths, and the secondfeed means 134 feeds the cut sheet material to the scoring means whichscores the sheet material so that it will have the score lines 300 and30!: described above in connection with FIGS. 11 and 12. After scoringhas taken place the finished article is fed by the third feed means 162beyond the machine. Thus, an exceedingly simple and at the same timehighly effective method and apparatus are provided for achieving a highoutput of flat tubular wrappers 20 which will have the requireddimensions and which can be manipulated in the manner shown in FIGS. 12and 13.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method for manufacturing a flat tubular wrapper for a package ofpredetermined dimensions, the steps of folding longitudinal side areasof an elongated web of sheet material around a pair of longitudinal foldlines into overlapping relationship so that inner surfaces of saidfolded side areas of the sheet material face an inner surface of alongitudinal central area of the sheet material situated between saidfold lines, applying adhesive, prior to folding of said side areas intooverlapping relation, to a longitudinal zone of one of the folded sideareas which becomes located between overlapping portions thereof foradhering the folded overlapping side areas to each other, also applyingadhesive, prior to folding of said side areas, to the inner surface ofsaid web of sheet material along a pair of narrow longitudinal zonesrespectively situated beside said fold lines with one of the latterzones situated between said fold lines adjacent one of said fold linesand the other of the latter zones situated outside of said longitudinalcentral area between said fold lines beside the other fold line, andapplying, prior to folding of said side areas around said fold lines,elongated stiffening strips to said inner surface of said web adjacentsaid fold lines, respectively, at said longitudinal central area, sothat one of said strips adheres to said longitudinal central area atsaid inner surface of said web adjacent said one fold line while theother of said strips adheres to one of said folded side areas when thelatter is folded around the fold line beside said other strip.

2. in a method as recited in claim 1, the step of transversely cuttingacross the folded web and stiffening strips to provide predeterminedlengths of flat tubular wrapper.

3. In a method as recited in claim 2 and including the step oftransversely scoring the thus-cut lengths adjacent to the ends thereof.I

4. In an apparatus for manufacturing flat tubular wrappers for packagesof predetermined dimensions, feeding means for longitudinally feeding anelongated web of foldable sheet material in folded condition withopposed longitudinal side areas of said web folded around a pair of foldlines into overlapping relation so that inner surfaces of said sideareas face an inner surface of a longitudinal central area of said websituated between said fold lines thereof, folding means, situated inadvance of said feeding means for folding said side areas of said webaround said folding lines as said web of foldable sheet material is fedby said feeding means, adhesive-applying means situated in advance ofsaid folding means for applying adhesive to the inner surface of saidweb, as the latter is fed by said feeding means and folded by saidfolding means, along three narrow longitudinal zones one of which issituated at the longitudinal central area beside one of said fold lines,a second of which is situated beside the other of said fold linesoutside of said longitudinal central area, and the third of whichbecomes situated between overlapping portions of said folded side areasfor adhering them to each other at their overlapping portions, anddelivering means for delivering a pair of elongated stiffening strips tosaid inner surface of said web to be fed by said feeding means togetherwith said web, said delivering means coacting with said strips fordelivering the latter to the longitudinal central area of said webrespectively beside said fold lines, so that said folding means andfeeding means apply one of said stiffening strips to said onelongitudinal zone to which adhesive is applied while said secondlongitudinal zone of adhesive contacts the other of the stiffeningstrips upon folding of said side areas by said folding means and feedingof the folded web and strips by said feeding means.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein a cutting means is situatedafter said feeding means for cutting the folded web into predeterminedlengths.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein a second feeding means issituated subsequent to said cutting means for feeding the cut lengths ofsaid web beyond said cutting means.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein a scoring means is situatedsubsequent to said second feeding means for scoring the cut lengthstransversely at the regions of the opposed ends thereof.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said scoring means includes arotary shaft and a pair of scoring members carried thereby for rotationtherewith, and means for adjusting the angular positions of said scoringmembers with respect to said shaft for determining the locations of thescore lines.

9. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said cutting means includes arotary cutting blade for cutting across the folded web and thestiffening strips adhering thereto, and means for adjusting the speed ofrotation of said cutting member for determining the length of the webcut thereby.

10. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said cutting means includes asingle rotary cutting blade and an anvil surface along which the web isfed to coact with said blade when the latter cuts through the web.

11. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said folding means includes astationary folding plate having opposed side edges which determine saidfold lines and a pair of stationary folding rods extending across saidside edges of said plate transversely of the web for folding said sideareas thereof around said side edges of said plate, the latter havingone surface directed toward said longitudinal central area of said weband an opposed surface overlapped by said rods and directed toward saidfolded side areas of said web, said delivering means delivering saidstiffening strips between said one surface of said plate and saidlongitudinal central area of said web so that said one stiffening stripengages the adhesive at said one longitudinal zone, said plate beingformed with a notch through which the other of said stiffening stripspasses to said opposed surface of said plate, said notch being situatedin advance of that one of said rods which folds the side area carryingsaid second zone of adhesive for applying the latter to said other stripat said opposed surface of said plate.

12. The combination of claim 11 and wherein said folding means furtherincludes a pair of pressure rollers situated adjacent said folding platesubsequent to said rods for pressing the folded side areas of the webagainst said plate.

13. The combination of claim 7 and wherein a single drive means isoperatively connected to said cutting means and scoring means foroperating said cutting means and scoring means from a common drive.

1. In a method for manufacturing a flat tubular wrapper for a package ofpredetermined dimensions, the steps of folding longitudinal side areasof an elongated web of sheet material around a pair of longitudinal foldlines into overlapping relationship so that inner surfaces of saidfolded side areas of the sheet material face an inner surface of alongitudinal central area of the sheet material situated between saidfold lines, applying adhesive, prior to folding of said side areas intooverlapping relation, to a longitudinal zone of one of the folded sideareas which becomes located between overlapping portions thereof foradhering the folded overlapping side areas to each other, also applyingadhesive, prior to folding of said side areas, to the inner surface ofsaid web of sheet material along a pair of narrow longitudinal zonesrespectively situated beside said fold lines with one of the latterzones situated between said fold lines adjacent one of said fold linesand the other of the latter zones situated outside of said longitudinalcentral area between said fold lines beside the other fold line, andapplying, prior to folding of said side areas around said fold lines,elongated stiffening strips to said inner surface of said web adjacentsaid fold lines, respectively, at said longitudinal central area, sothat one of said strips adheres to said longitudinal central area atsaid inner surface of said web adjacent said one fold line while theother of said strips adheres to one of said folded side areas when thelatter is folded around the fold line beside said other strip.
 2. In amethod as recited in claim 1, the step of transversely cutting acrossthe folded web and stiffening strips to provide predetermined lengths offlat tubular wrapper.
 3. In a method as Recited in claim 2 and includingthe step of transversely scoring the thus-cut lengths adjacent to theends thereof.
 4. In an apparatus for manufacturing flat tubular wrappersfor packages of predetermined dimensions, feeding means forlongitudinally feeding an elongated web of foldable sheet material infolded condition with opposed longitudinal side areas of said web foldedaround a pair of fold lines into overlapping relation so that innersurfaces of said side areas face an inner surface of a longitudinalcentral area of said web situated between said fold lines thereof,folding means, situated in advance of said feeding means for foldingsaid side areas of said web around said folding lines as said web offoldable sheet material is fed by said feeding means, adhesive-applyingmeans situated in advance of said folding means for applying adhesive tothe inner surface of said web, as the latter is fed by said feedingmeans and folded by said folding means, along three narrow longitudinalzones one of which is situated at the longitudinal central area besideone of said fold lines, a second of which is situated beside the otherof said fold lines outside of said longitudinal central area, and thethird of which becomes situated between overlapping portions of saidfolded side areas for adhering them to each other at their overlappingportions, and delivering means for delivering a pair of elongatedstiffening strips to said inner surface of said web to be fed by saidfeeding means together with said web, said delivering means coactingwith said strips for delivering the latter to the longitudinal centralarea of said web respectively beside said fold lines, so that saidfolding means and feeding means apply one of said stiffening strips tosaid one longitudinal zone to which adhesive is applied while saidsecond longitudinal zone of adhesive contacts the other of thestiffening strips upon folding of said side areas by said folding meansand feeding of the folded web and strips by said feeding means.
 5. Thecombination of claim 4 and wherein a cutting means is situated aftersaid feeding means for cutting the folded web into predeterminedlengths.
 6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein a second feedingmeans is situated subsequent to said cutting means for feeding the cutlengths of said web beyond said cutting means.
 7. The combination ofclaim 6 and wherein a scoring means is situated subsequent to saidsecond feeding means for scoring the cut lengths transversely at theregions of the opposed ends thereof.
 8. The combination of claim 7 andwherein said scoring means includes a rotary shaft and a pair of scoringmembers carried thereby for rotation therewith, and means for adjustingthe angular positions of said scoring members with respect to said shaftfor determining the locations of the score lines.
 9. The combination ofclaim 6 and wherein said cutting means includes a rotary cutting bladefor cutting across the folded web and the stiffening strips adheringthereto, and means for adjusting the speed of rotation of said cuttingmember for determining the length of the web cut thereby.
 10. Thecombination of claim 6 and wherein said cutting means includes a singlerotary cutting blade and an anvil surface along which the web is fed tocoact with said blade when the latter cuts through the web.
 11. Thecombination of claim 4 and wherein said folding means includes astationary folding plate having opposed side edges which determine saidfold lines and a pair of stationary folding rods extending across saidside edges of said plate transversely of the web for folding said sideareas thereof around said side edges of said plate, the latter havingone surface directed toward said longitudinal central area of said weband an opposed surface overlapped by said rods and directed toward saidfolded side areas of said web, said delivering means delivering saidstiffening strips between said one surface of said plate and saidlongitudinal central area Of said web so that said one stiffening stripengages the adhesive at said one longitudinal zone, said plate beingformed with a notch through which the other of said stiffening stripspasses to said opposed surface of said plate, said notch being situatedin advance of that one of said rods which folds the side area carryingsaid second zone of adhesive for applying the latter to said other stripat said opposed surface of said plate.
 12. The combination of claim 11and wherein said folding means further includes a pair of pressurerollers situated adjacent said folding plate subsequent to said rods forpressing the folded side areas of the web against said plate.
 13. Thecombination of claim 7 and wherein a single drive means is operativelyconnected to said cutting means and scoring means for operating saidcutting means and scoring means from a common drive.
 14. The combinationof claim 13 and wherein a pair of transmissions are respectively drivenby said cutting means and operatively connected to both of said feedingmeans for driving the latter from said cutting means.
 15. Thecombination of claim 14 and wherein a third feeding means is operativelyconnected to said scoring means to be driven thereby for feeding thescored lengths of wrapper beyond said scoring means.